Towards the end, the text says, "Now, if you be not suspicious, and induce them to think, by slight trusts, that they are not unworthy of some confidence, you will make them honest, useful, and affectionate CREATURES." The text makes it seem like they are animals; creatures, not humans. Like cattle and their only purpose is to pull the wagon or help work on the farm.
I in the first paragraph it says "...that slavery was humane and necessary system was belied by their own descriptions of slaves and who were ill, exhausted, and undernourished..." How is this not dehumanizing as it severly weakened and damaged the institution of southern slavery.
When reading the articale "The happiest Laboring Class" I did not feel like I was reading the life of people but animals. Though they are a different color, that does not mean that they have different needs to survive. If you have a working class at least treat them as humans and not as animals.
I agree with lauren that in the very last line it describes the slaves as creatures. They don't even describe or really view them as humans. This makes me angry and I wonder why Americans even came to think that this way of life was all right.
I do believe that these slave owners treat the slaves like animals. Honestly, they don't care about their health or being, but how muc work they can get done. What they dont realize is the weaker they are, the less their slaves are going to be able do for them. Like Davis said, I would want the strongest and healthiest slave. It's backwards how they expect these slaves to do so much for them, when they are treated very poorly. They are not happy, and I don't see why the owners think they are.
I feel like the authors put a lot of words into the slaves mouths. They went back and forth between honoring the slaves ability to work but then they would call them "ignorant of character, feelings, and sympathies." The way they talk about feeding them and housing them reminds me of the way someone would treat an animal they were raising on a farm.
They don't see the slaves as human beings. They treat them as objects and animals. They're amazed by their intelligence and how they are affected by how their master treats them. They see the slaves as inferiors and they experiment with them. They come to the conclusion that slaves do things according to how they are treated, kind of like animals, they feel like they can't think for themselves. They see it as purely business and they come up with strategies to get the most out of their slaves or products, as they see them.
The authors obviously didn't have much care for or about slaves in general. They called them sneaky, hypocrites who would turn on their masters if given the chance. They also demoralized them by calling them creatures at the end of the second article. This said a million words. The term "creatures" makes me think of monsters lurking in the dark, bad things that you are terrified of and that only want to cause harm to you. The slaves are treated as property, for the one man even said "advocating a system of farming..." They hold animals higher than the slaves. They are their property and nothing more.
Well they don't really care about them because thats how they were taught to treat them. Most of us treat other people like our parents told us to and thats all they were trying to do. They thought they were doing the right thing because thats what they were told.
The authors speak of the slaves as more of animaals rather than the humans they truly are. In order for your slaves to work their hardest & most productive they must be fed & kept in a proper shelter. But the way that they acknowledge their work in this literary piece is by comparison to ox and mule. Should any human be considered anything close to a four-legged creature? Its demeaning to human nature for people to treat the as a superior over the next. Its cruel, insensitive, & honestly I believe immoral.
When I first read this, I truly thought that this was actually helping the slaves. "I have found them apt to learn, very tractable, and remarkable for patience and evenness of temper." Yes, it is kind of like a learners manual, but the treatment is not as bad as it could be. For that day and age, this is kind of like giving them rights.
It is very sad how lowly the authors thought of slaves because they were hardly giving them human characteristics. It is easy to characterize and judge people you have never met.
The authors also are trying to teach the owner how to make their slave be the best investment they can be. They are trying to teach the owner how to get the best working slaves they can. Also, they are definitely not the happiest working class because if they were the happiest working class they would be working there by force.
It was mentioned that the slave owners probably treated their slaves as they were taught to treat them. Whether they learned from their parents or other members of their community, they treat them based on someone else's system. This still applies to today with parents teaching their children morals and proper ways to act. If we all learn from each other, who established the original system of how to act towards other people? Who set up the original system of how to treat slaves? Why do we follow other people's leads?
In this article, the slaves are seen and spoken in a tone that makes them seem as if they are just creatures or animals, rather than human beings. I think it's terrible that they are spoken of the way they are and they are just expected to work hard and possibly recieve some respect in return. It seems like this article was a guide as to how to recieve the best work from slaves and had no focus on how to view them as actual people with their own emotions.
"The master should ever bear in mind, that the guardian and protector of his slave, who if well treated and used, are the happiest laboring class in the world..." They generalize the way the slaves act and their reactions. They have no emotions or feeling towards them. They think that simply by feeding them better and housing them they will be the happiest slaves and will love doing their work. They treat them like dogs.
I agree with Lauren and Kasey that they call them creatures because they talk about how little education they are provided but how will they get it without the help of the masters. It is so embarrassing to think that these were Americans doing this, they shouldn't have brought African Americans to treat them like this but to help them.
When reading the article "The happiest Laboring Class in the World" I did not feel like I was reading the life of human beings but of animals. Even though they are a different color it does not change the conditions they need to live.If you have a working class at least treat them as humans and not as animals not only is it the right thing to do but it will also make them want to work harder and be able to work harder.
"...he is dependent in a great measure for happiness on his food...it must,too, be a source of pleasing to the master, to afford the additional happiness which such luxuries never fail to yield." This is the start of the first paragraph on the second page, and it reminded me of the relationship between me and my DOGS. My dogs get so happy and energetic when fed and respond best to the person who feeds them. The 'master'. Feeding my dogs...it's so simple, but it does make them pretty happy, and it definitely provides me with the 'source of pleasing' mentioned in the paragraph. However, this relationship is between me and my DOGS. The similar relationship described in the paragraph was between the slave master (a HUMAN) and the Negro slave (also a HUMAN!) So in the paragraph the slave master basically admits he sees his slaves as lower-class 'animals' with a few necessities/rights.
I think the slave owners were probably raised with slaves for their own family so i don't think they know that it is really that wrong, it's normal to them. It angers me that they don't know that what they're doing is "wrong." I agree with Mrs. Moritz that the slave owners have generalized the slaves into a group where they can degrade and mis treat them.
I think we still do generalize people today, especially where they are from or what they do. Like Mrs. Moritz said, students from Arapahoe hate Heritage. They are our rivals, so we are pretty much againsts each other even though we have nothing else to judge them for besides where they go to school.
I think that we are able to like who we want. I still think that color is not really an issue anymore we now use it as compitition between others. For example football teams. We are not different then the slave owners. We are better then that and just get over it. It is great that you are supporting your team but it does not mean that we do not have to talk down to others and think less of them.
Josh: I thought that too at first. That quote caught my attention too because it seemed like he was giving the slaves credit on a personal, human spectrum. As I read on though, it was the ignorance of the authors that really was awful. They are basically saying keep them alive and they will be happy and work hard for you. If they were to stop for a second and actually think about it, they probably wouldn't be happy in that situation. It was their ignorance that made the articles so maddening.
I think alot of times we are like numb to the way we classify people without knowing them. I think in away as humans e also try to justify why and how we classify people, like Americans try and justify slavery by saying that thats what they knew at the time and that "everyone else was doing it." However even if thats what you ahve always been taught shouldnt we know right from wrong?
I think that everyone has something inside them that tells them everything thats not there's is bad. We tend to think that people that are not like us are wrong. if they aren't like us then they are odd or doing something wrong.
When I first read this, I thought that it was trying to expose the slave owners and the poor lives slaves were living. "I have found them apt to learn, very tractable, and remarkable for patience and evenness of temper." and in the part where they are talking about the diet it seems like he is saying they deserve fresh fruit and vegetables not just meat once in a while.
i think color actually does kind of matter, when you see a person of middle eastern decent get on a plane, some people freak out. There are still some people out there who discriminate against skin color. There are some people out there who judge based on skin color.
Alee,I see what you are saying, but if you think about it, this is probably an improvement for the slaves. Sure, I admit that it is dehumanizing, but since slaves are already not considered human, it is an improvement.
To understand a way of life, to know nothing else would seem far from sinister in their own minds. But taking a closer look, a close-up to reality, we realize that the slave owners knew nothing else besides to be a master & a property holder. Granted, whether or not that excludes their actions and feelings towards their slaves, that is all that they have known. The same goes for the slaves, as unfortunate as that is, they have only known the working life they have grown up with in their lifetime, do they realize that their rights could be equal? Or do they just come to an understanding of where their place is & live with that as it is.
i think in a way that we are slaves when it comes to school. we are not able to really do what we want with out getting in trouble. But the thing is that we really do need order to be able to get things done. with out the order there will not be as much sucess as there is in this school.
I think that no matter if we like it or not we all have something inside of us that is more racest then we all like to think. we always judge people because thats part of who we are.
Looking at Allison's comment I definately agree and that you feed your dogs on a schedule as do the slaves but as it says on the second page, "...if he is unfortunate enough to not wake at midnight and cook his morning's meal, he is compelled to fast until his dinner hour the next day." How can they do that and then expect them to do decent work the next day? How could they watch them starve and miserable because they missed a mean because they were so exhausted to get up and eat because they would rather get sleep...?
I agree that people are conditioned to think a certain way as the majority of society does in order to be accepted and not viewed as an outcast. When you don't agree with the majority, you can be viewed as a (potential) threat. When we see people who fit a certain stereotype, especially those from the Middle East, we are afraid of what we don't know about them. Our fear of the unknown take control of our better judgment.
I think there are a lot of examples in the world today that are set up in a "slave or master" manner. In school, in work, in families etc. Some of these situations involve fear like Mrs. Moritz brought up which i think is similar to slaves and masters.
When I read the part of the slaves so called house I almost get sick because I picture this "16 feet by 18" shack that has a HUGE family in them. This room is "old fashioned cabins, with log roofs, and slabs not nailed, but merely confined by logs, almost invariably leak, and keep the cabin floor always wet." THis is dehumanizing in the way that the slave owners dont care about their slaves.
It seemed to me that in this article, they were determining more of how to take full advantage of their slaves so that they could have the most hard working slaves. "...if his master treats him as a fool, he will be sure to act the fool's part." Slaves are seen as animals who can be easy to tame and will respect you if you respect them back. I found it sad that slaves were dehumanized due to their color and status, even when they were willing to remain kind towards their masters. "Cuffee is hard to outdo in politeness."
I think there are a lot of examples in the world today that are set up in a "slave or master" manner. In school, in work, in families etc. Some of these situations involve fear like Mrs. Moritz brought up which i think is similar to slaves and masters.
Josh: Very true. With that in mind, it just goes to show how poorly they were treated. I guess its what isn't said but is hidden between the lines that really makes this article.
I think that in the south they downplay it because they didn't see it as a big deal. They all supported it at some point but they really don't see it like we do.
I think that in suburban Colorado we do not really come in much contact with the prejudice that took place back in the day. It's bad that people still hold prejudices like that, but it is a part of their history and it could take a while for it go away, if it ever does
I think that its crazy that the slaveholders think that they care for their slaves when actually they treat them terribly and dehumanize them. These men are so blind and I wonder why a human being can do this to another human being.
Aly E: I think the slaves knew that they were equal, but they were afraid to rising up against their owners. This is why it took so long for them to join together to get their rights. In this time they were just brought here to work the land and be slaves. They were here to make a living to help their families. This is kinda related to the people that come here today looking for work, just to make money for their families.
I think your pride and joy in something really affects the outcome of work you do or a task you complete. I don't think the slaves were at all joyful or pideful as an effect of their situation or their master.
In response to the last sentence of the story/essay, the author states that when trusted, they are honest and useful creatures. It is unfortunate that the author refers to those of a different race as "creatures".
There are many situations today, where slave and master comes into play, and I agree that it would help to have respect for your slave, it would be much better for everyone than the alternative.
The slaves did not do there work joyfully. If I were a slave, I would not look forward to working my butt off every single day, especially if you never knew when you were going to get out of slavery if ever. Working every single day for a person you didn't like or care for would be extremly hard. However, you knew you had to work for them in order to get food, shelter, and stay alive.
Someone mentioned the idea of the 'ignorance' of the slave owners... I totally agree. I think that their ignorance, combined with the lessons they learned as they grew up (like Mrs. Moritz said), made them the way they were. I wonder, though, if the masters ever considered the possibility that they were WRONG...that the slaves were their equals as fellow human beings...?
i agree with Spencer. in Colorado we do not see the full effect of what slavery was like. But like Mrs. Moritz was saying that in the south they downplay it i think because they feel bad and they just want to forget their past.
The fact that the masters see their slaves as creatures and find it optional to either treat their slaves well or poorly is extremely dehumanizing. Obviously if the slaves aren't treated well, are fed poorly, and aren't seen more highly than just animals, they aren't going to be able to work joyfully. It is very wrong that people were judged by their color and status at that point in time and weren't really able to do much about it.
I agree with Zach and Spencer because I believe that it is true that we are not hit with that many prejudices except if it includes stuff like skiing. Sure, there are some prejudices out there, but there are not many that are extremely degrading to another race or sect.
The slaves were treated like they didn't have any emotion or sense in the world. After reading this article I felt a deep pain towards each slave and how the white men used to treat them so poorly. The writer of this article must of had some heartfelt reasons to be talking and discussing this.
Throughout this article the slave owners talk as if they are talking about a dog. They disscus how to feed, house, breed, and treat slaves. They talk about ways to keep your slave happy to work for you and how it is very important to keep them uneducated. It really hurt me that they are talking about real, living, and breathing people like this. They do not care about the slaves at all as long as they are able to do good work, thats all that matters. Also I was upset by the fact that no slaves were actully involed in the article. The owners just talked for the slaves. We honestly don't know how the slaves felt themselves, the owner just assumes for them. Somethings else that really bothered me though this article was that the owners expected the slaves to be happy. Of course the slaves are not going to be happy to do work!!! I wouldn't be happy if I was forced to do someone elses work I would be angry.
53 comments:
Towards the end, the text says, "Now, if you be not suspicious, and induce them to think, by slight trusts, that they are not unworthy of some confidence, you will make them honest, useful, and affectionate CREATURES." The text makes it seem like they are animals; creatures, not humans. Like cattle and their only purpose is to pull the wagon or help work on the farm.
I in the first paragraph it says "...that slavery was humane and necessary system was belied by their own descriptions of slaves and who were ill, exhausted, and undernourished..." How is this not dehumanizing as it severly weakened and damaged the institution of southern slavery.
When reading the articale "The happiest Laboring Class" I did not feel like I was reading the life of people but animals. Though they are a different color, that does not mean that they have different needs to survive. If you have a working class at least treat them as humans and not as animals.
I agree with lauren that in the very last line it describes the slaves as creatures. They don't even describe or really view them as humans. This makes me angry and I wonder why Americans even came to think that this way of life was all right.
I do believe that these slave owners treat the slaves like animals. Honestly, they don't care about their health or being, but how muc work they can get done. What they dont realize is the weaker they are, the less their slaves are going to be able do for them. Like Davis said, I would want the strongest and healthiest slave. It's backwards how they expect these slaves to do so much for them, when they are treated very poorly. They are not happy, and I don't see why the owners think they are.
I feel like the authors put a lot of words into the slaves mouths. They went back and forth between honoring the slaves ability to work but then they would call them "ignorant of character, feelings, and sympathies." The way they talk about feeding them and housing them reminds me of the way someone would treat an animal they were raising on a farm.
They don't see the slaves as human beings. They treat them as objects and animals. They're amazed by their intelligence and how they are affected by how their master treats them. They see the slaves as inferiors and they experiment with them. They come to the conclusion that slaves do things according to how they are treated, kind of like animals, they feel like they can't think for themselves. They see it as purely business and they come up with strategies to get the most out of their slaves or products, as they see them.
The authors obviously didn't have much care for or about slaves in general. They called them sneaky, hypocrites who would turn on their masters if given the chance. They also demoralized them by calling them creatures at the end of the second article. This said a million words. The term "creatures" makes me think of monsters lurking in the dark, bad things that you are terrified of and that only want to cause harm to you. The slaves are treated as property, for the one man even said "advocating a system of farming..." They hold animals higher than the slaves. They are their property and nothing more.
Well they don't really care about them because thats how they were taught to treat them. Most of us treat other people like our parents told us to and thats all they were trying to do. They thought they were doing the right thing because thats what they were told.
The authors speak of the slaves as more of animaals rather than the humans they truly are. In order for your slaves to work their hardest & most productive they must be fed & kept in a proper shelter. But the way that they acknowledge their work in this literary piece is by comparison to ox and mule. Should any human be considered anything close to a four-legged creature? Its demeaning to human nature for people to treat the as a superior over the next. Its cruel, insensitive, & honestly I believe immoral.
When I first read this, I truly thought that this was actually helping the slaves. "I have found them apt to learn, very tractable, and remarkable for patience and evenness of temper." Yes, it is kind of like a learners manual, but the treatment is not as bad as it could be. For that day and age, this is kind of like giving them rights.
It is very sad how lowly the authors thought of slaves because they were hardly giving them human characteristics. It is easy to characterize and judge people you have never met.
The authors also are trying to teach the owner how to make their slave be the best investment they can be. They are trying to teach the owner how to get the best working slaves they can. Also, they are definitely not the happiest working class because if they were the happiest working class they would be working there by force.
It was mentioned that the slave owners probably treated their slaves as they were taught to treat them. Whether they learned from their parents or other members of their community, they treat them based on someone else's system. This still applies to today with parents teaching their children morals and proper ways to act. If we all learn from each other, who established the original system of how to act towards other people? Who set up the original system of how to treat slaves? Why do we follow other people's leads?
In this article, the slaves are seen and spoken in a tone that makes them seem as if they are just creatures or animals, rather than human beings. I think it's terrible that they are spoken of the way they are and they are just expected to work hard and possibly recieve some respect in return. It seems like this article was a guide as to how to recieve the best work from slaves and had no focus on how to view them as actual people with their own emotions.
"The master should ever bear in mind, that the guardian and protector of his slave, who if well treated and used, are the happiest laboring class in the world..." They generalize the way the slaves act and their reactions. They have no emotions or feeling towards them. They think that simply by feeding them better and housing them they will be the happiest slaves and will love doing their work. They treat them like dogs.
I agree with Lauren and Kasey that they call them creatures because they talk about how little education they are provided but how will they get it without the help of the masters. It is so embarrassing to think that these were Americans doing this, they shouldn't have brought African Americans to treat them like this but to help them.
When reading the article "The happiest Laboring Class in the World" I did not feel like I was reading the life of human beings but of animals. Even though they are a different color it does not change the conditions they need to live.If you have a working class at least treat them as humans and not as animals not only is it the right thing to do but it will also make them want to work harder and be able to work harder.
"...he is dependent in a great measure for happiness on his food...it must,too, be a source of pleasing to the master, to afford the additional happiness which such luxuries never fail to yield." This is the start of the first paragraph on the second page, and it reminded me of the relationship between me and my DOGS. My dogs get so happy and energetic when fed and respond best to the person who feeds them. The 'master'. Feeding my dogs...it's so simple, but it does make them pretty happy, and it definitely provides me with the 'source of pleasing' mentioned in the paragraph. However, this relationship is between me and my DOGS. The similar relationship described in the paragraph was between the slave master (a HUMAN) and the Negro slave (also a HUMAN!) So in the paragraph the slave master basically admits he sees his slaves as lower-class 'animals' with a few necessities/rights.
I think the slave owners were probably raised with slaves for their own family so i don't think they know that it is really that wrong, it's normal to them. It angers me that they don't know that what they're doing is "wrong." I agree with Mrs. Moritz that the slave owners have generalized the slaves into a group where they can degrade and mis treat them.
I think we still do generalize people today, especially where they are from or what they do. Like Mrs. Moritz said, students from Arapahoe hate Heritage. They are our rivals, so we are pretty much againsts each other even though we have nothing else to judge them for besides where they go to school.
I think that we are able to like who we want. I still think that color is not really an issue anymore we now use it as compitition between others. For example football teams. We are not different then the slave owners. We are better then that and just get over it. It is great that you are supporting your team but it does not mean that we do not have to talk down to others and think less of them.
Josh: I thought that too at first. That quote caught my attention too because it seemed like he was giving the slaves credit on a personal, human spectrum. As I read on though, it was the ignorance of the authors that really was awful. They are basically saying keep them alive and they will be happy and work hard for you. If they were to stop for a second and actually think about it, they probably wouldn't be happy in that situation. It was their ignorance that made the articles so maddening.
I think alot of times we are like numb to the way we classify people without knowing them. I think in away as humans e also try to justify why and how we classify people, like Americans try and justify slavery by saying that thats what they knew at the time and that "everyone else was doing it." However even if thats what you ahve always been taught shouldnt we know right from wrong?
I think that everyone has something inside them that tells them everything thats not there's is bad. We tend to think that people that are not like us are wrong. if they aren't like us then they are odd or doing something wrong.
When I first read this, I thought that it was trying to expose the slave owners and the poor lives slaves were living. "I have found them apt to learn, very tractable, and remarkable for patience and evenness of temper." and in the part where they are talking about the diet it seems like he is saying they deserve fresh fruit and vegetables not just meat once in a while.
i think color actually does kind of matter, when you see a person of middle eastern decent get on a plane, some people freak out. There are still some people out there who discriminate against skin color. There are some people out there who judge based on skin color.
Alee,I see what you are saying, but if you think about it, this is probably an improvement for the slaves. Sure, I admit that it is dehumanizing, but since slaves are already not considered human, it is an improvement.
To understand a way of life, to know nothing else would seem far from sinister in their own minds. But taking a closer look, a close-up to reality, we realize that the slave owners knew nothing else besides to be a master & a property holder. Granted, whether or not that excludes their actions and feelings towards their slaves, that is all that they have known. The same goes for the slaves, as unfortunate as that is, they have only known the working life they have grown up with in their lifetime, do they realize that their rights could be equal? Or do they just come to an understanding of where their place is & live with that as it is.
i think in a way that we are slaves when it comes to school. we are not able to really do what we want with out getting in trouble. But the thing is that we really do need order to be able to get things done. with out the order there will not be as much sucess as there is in this school.
I think that no matter if we like it or not we all have something inside of us that is more racest then we all like to think. we always judge people because thats part of who we are.
Looking at Allison's comment I definately agree and that you feed your dogs on a schedule as do the slaves but as it says on the second page, "...if he is unfortunate enough to not wake at midnight and cook his morning's meal, he is compelled to fast until his dinner hour the next day." How can they do that and then expect them to do decent work the next day? How could they watch them starve and miserable because they missed a mean because they were so exhausted to get up and eat because they would rather get sleep...?
I agree that people are conditioned to think a certain way as the majority of society does in order to be accepted and not viewed as an outcast. When you don't agree with the majority, you can be viewed as a (potential) threat. When we see people who fit a certain stereotype, especially those from the Middle East, we are afraid of what we don't know about them. Our fear of the unknown take control of our better judgment.
I think there are a lot of examples in the world today that are set up in a "slave or master" manner. In school, in work, in families etc. Some of these situations involve fear like Mrs. Moritz brought up which i think is similar to slaves and masters.
When I read the part of the slaves so called house I almost get sick because I picture this "16 feet by 18" shack that has a HUGE family in them. This room is "old fashioned cabins, with log roofs, and slabs not nailed, but merely confined by logs, almost invariably leak, and keep the cabin floor always wet." THis is dehumanizing in the way that the slave owners dont care about their slaves.
It seemed to me that in this article, they were determining more of how to take full advantage of their slaves so that they could have the most hard working slaves. "...if his master treats him as a fool, he will be sure to act the fool's part." Slaves are seen as animals who can be easy to tame and will respect you if you respect them back. I found it sad that slaves were dehumanized due to their color and status, even when they were willing to remain kind towards their masters. "Cuffee is hard to outdo in politeness."
I think there are a lot of examples in the world today that are set up in a "slave or master" manner. In school, in work, in families etc. Some of these situations involve fear like Mrs. Moritz brought up which i think is similar to slaves and masters.
Josh: Very true. With that in mind, it just goes to show how poorly they were treated. I guess its what isn't said but is hidden between the lines that really makes this article.
I think that in the south they downplay it because they didn't see it as a big deal. They all supported it at some point but they really don't see it like we do.
I think that in suburban Colorado we do not really come in much contact with the prejudice that took place back in the day. It's bad that people still hold prejudices like that, but it is a part of their history and it could take a while for it go away, if it ever does
I think that its crazy that the slaveholders think that they care for their slaves when actually they treat them terribly and dehumanize them. These men are so blind and I wonder why a human being can do this to another human being.
Aly E: I think the slaves knew that they were equal, but they were afraid to rising up against their owners. This is why it took so long for them to join together to get their rights. In this time they were just brought here to work the land and be slaves. They were here to make a living to help their families. This is kinda related to the people that come here today looking for work, just to make money for their families.
I think your pride and joy in something really affects the outcome of work you do or a task you complete. I don't think the slaves were at all joyful or pideful as an effect of their situation or their master.
In response to the last sentence of the story/essay, the author states that when trusted, they are honest and useful creatures. It is unfortunate that the author refers to those of a different race as "creatures".
There are many situations today, where slave and master comes into play, and I agree that it would help to have respect for your slave, it would be much better for everyone than the alternative.
The slaves did not do there work joyfully. If I were a slave, I would not look forward to working my butt off every single day, especially if you never knew when you were going to get out of slavery if ever. Working every single day for a person you didn't like or care for would be extremly hard. However, you knew you had to work for them in order to get food, shelter, and stay alive.
Someone mentioned the idea of the 'ignorance' of the slave owners... I totally agree. I think that their ignorance, combined with the lessons they learned as they grew up (like Mrs. Moritz said), made them the way they were. I wonder, though, if the masters ever considered the possibility that they were WRONG...that the slaves were their equals as fellow human beings...?
i agree with Spencer. in Colorado we do not see the full effect of what slavery was like. But like Mrs. Moritz was saying that in the south they downplay it i think because they feel bad and they just want to forget their past.
The fact that the masters see their slaves as creatures and find it optional to either treat their slaves well or poorly is extremely dehumanizing. Obviously if the slaves aren't treated well, are fed poorly, and aren't seen more highly than just animals, they aren't going to be able to work joyfully. It is very wrong that people were judged by their color and status at that point in time and weren't really able to do much about it.
I agree with Zach and Spencer because I believe that it is true that we are not hit with that many prejudices except if it includes stuff like skiing. Sure, there are some prejudices out there, but there are not many that are extremely degrading to another race or sect.
The slaves were treated like they didn't have any emotion or sense in the world. After reading this article I felt a deep pain towards each slave and how the white men used to treat them so poorly. The writer of this article must of had some heartfelt reasons to be talking and discussing this.
Throughout this article the slave owners talk as if they are talking about a dog. They disscus how to feed, house, breed, and treat slaves. They talk about ways to keep your slave happy to work for you and how it is very important to keep them uneducated. It really hurt me that they are talking about real, living, and breathing people like this. They do not care about the slaves at all as long as they are able to do good work, thats all that matters. Also I was upset by the fact that no slaves were actully involed in the article. The owners just talked for the slaves. We honestly don't know how the slaves felt themselves, the owner just assumes for them. Somethings else that really bothered me though this article was that the owners expected the slaves to be happy. Of course the slaves are not going to be happy to do work!!! I wouldn't be happy if I was forced to do someone elses work I would be angry.
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